(MANILA BULLETIN)

House Minority Leader 1-RIDER Party-list Rep. Rodge Gutierrez has urged Filipinos to employ the grade school approach when it comes to helping the government solve the flood problem. 

What Gutierrez means by this is Filipinos should follow grade school-level instructions that are as basic as proper garbage disposal. But this will go a long way in terms of flood mitigation ahead of the expected effects of La Niña. 

“Panawagan po sa ating mga kababayan: magpaka-Grade 1 po tayo, wastong pagtapon ng basura po,” he said during a recent press conference in the House of Representatives. 

(My appeal to our countrymen: let's go back to being Grade 1, let's observe proper waste disposal.) 

A major cause of floods is the clogging of drainages and waterways by garbage. 

The "Young Guns" bloc member was among the participants of a meeting last week with  officials of the Departments of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and Interior and Local Government (DILG), and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). 

House Speaker Martin Romualdez organized the meeting just as heavy rains were becoming more common in the metropolis and elsewhere in the country. 

Proper garbage disposal is one of the key solutions discussed during the meeting as a way to mitigate flooding in the streets. 

“It seems to be the primary concern po ng ating MMDA, ang pagtapon ng ating mga basura, malaki po yung epekto nito,” Gutierrez said. 

(The primary concern of our MMDA was the disposal of garbage, since this has a huge effect.) 

The group meeting also focused on more synergy of government programs, especially that battling the effects of the coming La Niña. 

“So, nakipag-ugnayan sila, nakipagtalakayan sa mga measures po for La Niña. Lahat ng mga government projects they want more synergy,” he added. 

(So, they coordinated with each other, they discussed the measures for La Niña. They want more synergy for the government projects.)